By: Ryan Tejero
Erik was born on October 1990 to Ernest and Nenie Reyes of Houston, Texas. He is a second-generation immigrant in the United States. Erik graduated at Cy-Creek High School in summer of 2009. During his formative years he was active playing the piano, composing music and competing in video games. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design from Houston Arts Institute in May 2017.
He accepted a job in Rapid City, South Dakota in May 2019 which is 1,293 miles (2080.88 kilometer) north of Houston, Texas and became the project manager for Caterpillar, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction and mining equipment.
While alone in his apartment in a new location away from home, Erik purchased a hamster and named him Remmy. He turned a 30-gallon fish tank into Remmy’s home equipped with cartwheel. When the CoVid 19 pandemic hit in 2020 and all workers had to work at home, Remmy was Erik’s only companion during the CoViD 19 lockdown.
Interesting story about the adventures of Nugget, The Hamster
The story behind Nugget was taken from the adventures of his Campbell hamster, Remmy. He loved sunflower seeds and threw little tantrums when his food bowl was empty in the mornings. He made sure to get his daily exercise in his cartwheel. He would explore massive cardboard mansions and scale the tallest plastic mountains. Remmy would burrow in his sand pit and build little burrows in his paper bedding. Nugget the Hamster book depicted Remmy’s curious nature as he freely roamed in his cage and playpens. He lived three long years before passing in March 2023.
Erik was sad losing a companion in the time which was one of the darkest moments in human history- The Covid Pandemic. When the world inadvertently shut down, Erik turned his grief into something prolific. He wrote the book and named the character Nugget, a hamster with adventure thoughts.
The book is published by Amazon and is now available for purchase.
The book was immediately accepted by Amazon and published in April 2023. It has gained good reviews and readers expressed encouragement for Erik to write a sequel.
He launched the book in Houston, Texas, then in the Philippines. A book signing event was conducted on September 2023 at the Houston Public Library downtown which was warmly supported. He also has readers from the Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Erik is generously involved in charity work. He performed with his brother, Niko, by playing the piano at charity galas of Gawad Kalinga, USA (a Philippine-based non-profit movement that aims to end poverty). A portion of the book sales are being donated to help with humanitarian projects. Erik wanted to share Remmy’s journey within the story of Nugget the Hamster for all ages to enjoy. He hopes that Nugget’s story touched the reader’s heart and imagination as it did his.
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